Unleashing Power: A Deep Dive into the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D’s 16-Core Gaming Brilliance

The tale of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is straightforward: it performs remarkably similar to the outstanding Ryzen 7 9800X3D in gaming, essentially, yet boasts double the cores, making it significantly more proficient in content creation activities such as 3D modeling or video transcoding where all available threads are utilized. If you are seeking a single CPU that can do it all, this is the one to acquire – even though it comes with a steep price tag of £659 in the UK and $699 in the US.

Like the 9800X3D that was released late in 2024, the 9950X3D features a notably enhanced L3 cache compared to a standard Ryzen 9000 processor, positioned beneath the CCD instead of above it as observed in earlier Ryzen X3D models. This configuration allows us to achieve that performance-enhancing edge without the detrimental impact on temperatures and clock speeds that previously defined X3D processors in comparison to their standard variants; a perfect blend of benefits.

To fully appreciate the level of performance on offer, we have run the 9950X3D through a full suite of 11 game benchmarks at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, including some of the most demanding single-player (Dragon’s Dogma, Starfield, Cyberpunk) and multiplayer (CS2, F1 24) titles.

Before we delve into that, it’s worth examining the specifications here to get a sense of the kind of performance we can expect in content creation scenarios.

In summary, the 9950X3D is impressively optimistic for content creation, as it maintains the same rated boost and base clock speeds and TDP compared to the 9950X, with a complete doubling of L3 cache. This suggests that it will likely match or potentially exceed the 9950X in typical workloads, although the 3D V-Cache may consume slightly more energy and generate somewhat more heat. This is a reasonable shift from even the Ryzen 7000 X3D processors, where reduced clock speeds and heightened temperatures resulted in a slight performance regression in all-core tasks.

It’s also essential to note that this is the most expensive Ryzen processor to date, with its $699 price point aligning with the 7950X3D and $100 above the 9950X. The graphics card market has experienced a surge in units selling far above MSRP, but hopefully we won’t see a similar trend for CPUs that do not utilize the “board partner” model.

All evaluations were conducted on Windows 24H2 with the latest chipset drivers (7.01.07.634) and BIOS updates implemented (3.20 on our ASRock X670E Taichi). We utilized Nvidia’s slightly older 565.90 graphical drivers to maintain consistency with earlier results, as our testing suite does not include any games necessitating newer drivers. Resizable BAR and core isolation were activated on both systems.

Our current CPU testing platform primarily features the Nvidia GeForce Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 Founders Edition graphics card and Trident Z5 Neo DDR5-6000 CL30 RAM. Each CPU is paired with a 1000W+ power supply from Corsair or NZXT, a high-quality 240mm or 360mm AiO cooler and a compatible high-end motherboard: the ASRock X670E Taichi for AMD Ryzen 7000 and 9000, the MSI Z890 Meg Ace for Intel Core Ultra 200S, the Gigabyte Aorus Z790 Master for 12th and 14th gen Intel Core, and the Asus ROG Crosshair 8 Hero for AMD Ryzen 5000 – with Trident Z Royal DDR4-3600 CL16, as DDR5 RAM is not supported on this platform.

Storage needs are met by a range of PCIe 4.0 or PCIe 5.0 SSDs, including the WD SN5000 4TB NVMe SSD for our AMD Ryzen 9000 system.

Now, let’s proceed to the benchmark results to gain a better understanding of how the 9950X3D advances upon its predecessors. Ultimately, for pure gaming purposes, the 9800X3D might be entirely sufficient, so if you opted for the 9950X3D, you may be utilizing the additional cores for tasks like video production or 3D modeling.

Starting with our Cinebench benchmark findings, including the classic R20 and the newer 2024 version, the 9950X3D clearly demonstrates enhanced performance over the 9950X by a minor margin – it’s approximately five percent quicker in CB 2024 multi-core and three percent faster in CB R20’s multi-core test. Remarkably, this means it currently holds the overall record in R20, coming in just ahead of the Core Extreme 285K, while closely following the same processor in Cinebench 2024.

In comparison to the previous generation 7950X, there’s also a significant advantage – around 15 percent in single-core and 17 percent in multi-core for CB 2024. The differences in Cinebench R20 are somewhat narrower, with a 12 percent single-core lead and a 15 percent multi-core edge.

While Cinebench aims to evaluate a 3D modeling and animation task in Cinema 4D, our Cinebench assessment illustrates a solid use case for us: converting a Patreon video file into H.264 and H.265 (HEVC). In this instance, we observed the 9950X3D consuming a robust 403W at full capacity, surpassing the 9950X by a notable margin of 3.6 percent in the H.264 encoding and 2.3 percent in the HEVC encoding. It’s essential to clarify that the 403W reading represents a temporary power draw at the beginning of the test, with 300W-355W being a more common figure throughout the majority of the operation.

This performance is approximately 11 percent quicker than the 7950X for context, and similar in speed to the Intel Core Ultra 285K. We plan to re-evaluate the 245K and 285K soon to check if Intel’s anticipated performance enhancements have finally been realized, despite reports from other sources suggesting a less than favorable outlook.

Now, let’s dive into the heart of our evaluation, the gaming benchmarks. We have 11 games in total, in addition to an analysis of power consumption.

AMD Ryzen 7 9950X3D Review

• Overview, test setup and encoding benchmarks [this page]
• Gaming benchmarks: Dragon’s Dogma 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, Starfield
• Gaming benchmarks: Flight Simulator 2020, F1 24, Forza Horizon 5
• Gaming benchmarks: Counter-Strike 2, Cyberpunk 2077, Crysis 3 Remastered
• Gaming benchmarks: Far Cry 6, Hitman World of Assassination
• Power analysis: Counter-Strike 2, Far Cry 6, Forza Horizon 5
• AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D: the Digital Foundry verdict